Sensex falls 374 points as crude climbs
Nifty closed near 23,900. Brent traded around $95 after fresh US-Iran strikes.
Indian equities fell for a third straight session on Wednesday. The BSE Sensex dropped 373.93 points, or 0.49%, to 76,570.35. The NSE Nifty 50 fell 141.35 points, or 0.59%, to 23,914.45.
Both indices recovered from deeper morning losses. Sensex had tumbled as much as 808 points to 76,135.72. Auto, IT, and banking shares led the selling. Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, and Infosys were among the Sensex laggards. Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, and NTPC gained.
The trigger was another jump in oil after fresh US strikes on Iranian targets and an Iranian response. Brent crude traded near $95 a barrel, after touching a near-six-week high earlier. Higher global bond yields added to the risk-off mood. Broader mid-cap and small-cap indices also closed lower.
India imports most of its oil. Sustained crude near these levels lifts the import bill and feeds inflation talk, even when one-day spikes look manageable. Yesterday's Hormuz story and today's market close are the same chain.
Domestic GDP, GST, and credit prints have been firm. That is why buyers stepped back in from the lows. The tension is external oil and yields versus local demand.
Watch Brent and US Treasury yields into the next sessions. A short spike is noise. A week of $95-plus oil with Hormuz still clogged is a different problem for inflation and for RBI.